Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is included in Africa Health 20 because he holds one of the most consequential operational roles in global health, with direct relevance to Africa. As Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, he leads the organization’s work on preparedness and response to disease outbreaks, humanitarian crises, and other health emergencies worldwide.
His influence matters because preparedness, outbreak intelligence, and crisis response are no longer peripheral concerns in African health. They are central to how systems are judged, funded, and trusted. In 2025, after also serving in a senior acting leadership role for WHO Africa, he remained one of the clearest African voices shaping how health emergencies are detected, interpreted, and managed across systems.
Influence areas: Health emergencies; epidemic intelligence; global health governance; preparedness.
